


The Blue Dues

by fifiefum



Series: The Wizard in the Backyard [2]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Aristocracy, Aristocrat!America, Drama, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Magic, Mutual Pining, Romance, Wizard!england, Wizards
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:48:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24282352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fifiefum/pseuds/fifiefum
Summary: Bright and deep blue. The ocean and sky are free and endless but are enclosed in those eyes. And Arthur knows all he can do is to drown in them.
Relationships: America/England (Hetalia)
Series: The Wizard in the Backyard [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1727626
Comments: 3
Kudos: 27





	The Blue Dues

Arthur Kirkland, wizard extraordinaire and self-certified gentleman, was not a coward. 

Many times has he faced beings and occasions worth fearing. He was also a fearsome person who had done a few questionable acts in his lifetime. He still does, sparingly. And Arthur was sure that at least most people that met him had a semblance of the feeling ' _fear_ ' when facing him; he could prove it at any given moment.

As stated, Arthur was not the type of person to back down and retreat faster than the neighboring duke's chef, and that people like the chef usually and mostly find a way to escape him. Yet. Why did he slam his front door shut when he was taking his broom to leave for the capital? 

Er, it was more like _what_ he saw.

He wasn't afraid of Victoria, oh no, not at all. The maid liked him as much as he liked himself, somewhere around not-at-all. And she wouldn't hesitate to raise her fist to his gentlemanly face but that was not what bothered him. What, not who thank you very much, made him turn around, lock his front door shut, and burn his face brighter than the red silk dress his mother bought from the southern empire, was the bouquet of flowers cradled in Victoria's arms.

' _What was this?! A powerful wizard cowering like a priest seduced by an incubus at the sight of flowers?_ ', you may ask? Well, this was the third bouquet now! He had already told _him_ , by letter of course, that _it_ was _nothing_ to worry about and that he was completely _fine_ with it. Yes. Completely fine... And not at all conflicted.

_A lie_. A god damn lie. An as big-as-his-ego-lie. Arthur had to be comforted the rest of the afternoon and then the whole night by his little friends. They were fretting for his well-being so much they almost burned his cottage down to the ground to cook dinner while Arthur himself was fretting what to do next after that--that kiss.

A bored kick on the door jolted him to awareness. "Oi, Mister Wizard, " the clicking of heels and the shuffling of the flowers could be heard from the other side of the door, "Stop being rude and accept the flowers."

The maid was right. He was being rude. Not accepting the blooms from his next-door neighbor's luxurious garden as an apology bouquet for the little and harmless misunderstanding they had three days ago is disrespectful and completely goes against the image he was working hard for. 

Besides, they really were only apology flowers anyway. That was not a good reason to be upset--much less, disappointed. 

Arthur brushed off the non-existent dust off of his cloak and gripped the doorknob. Steeling himself, Arthur slowly creaked the door open. "Seriously, don't you know that some people have a lot of things to do than you do?" Victoria reprimanded him as she carelessly throws at him the arrangement of daffodils and lilacs, "I can't believe I let you talk me into coming with you to this country!"

The wizard barely caught the gift. Arthur bristled, to the careless handling of his gift and her statement, "Wha-- You were the one begging to come along! And you can't tell me you don't find working as the head maid of the prestigious house of Sableon is better than where you worked before, Victoria." 

He was right about the events, as always. The green-eyed wizard had met Victoria and saved her from her doom when he was operating under the orders of Her Majesty to reclaim a book from a library in the " _annoying little kingdom in the southwest_ ".

Victoria crossed her arms in a begrudging agreement. She held her head high as she stood her ground, looking at him straight in the eye. Arthur frowned back at her. For a person whom he'd 'rescued', she was too prideful. Or was it because she simply disliked him so.

"Oh? Are you going on a journey or something?" She asked as her eyes observed his thick, violet wizard cloak and a gold lion pin which represented his rank. It was Arthur's uniform. And was for every other registered wizard in the kingdom, except for the pin.

"Or something, yes. The Tower needed someone who could continue to observe the last stage of this year's examination. I was told that a professor had gotten himself thrown off of one of the windows and broke his spine when he chased down a thief loitering in the palace," Arthur winced and the maid thought for a second there he was concerned about this person but Arthur continued without a beat, "So much for my retirement--err vacation." 

Victoria sighed in defeat. She had given up reforming her "friend" long ago. But perhaps another could. The maid eyed the bouquet with amusement. This scene with the Lion-ranked wizard cradling the flowers with gentleness while his face was the face of someone cursing another's existence is very silly. She was sure if he hadn't met her current employer, he'd have burned the arrangement with lightning. And have it thrown to a crater of a volcano.

She snatched the bouquet from his hands. Arthur spluttered in displeasure from having his apology gift taken away from him. Victoria tutted at him before he could complain any further. "I know you're in a hurry--"

"Damn right." She shot him a look.

"--So I'll put these in a vase," she waved the bouquet at his face, "and lock your house for you while you fly on your magic stick to the palace to babysit your magelings."

Arthur looked at her with surprise and nodded as he took his broomstick near the doorway. "Ah, thank you for the trouble Victoria."

She waved him away. "Go, it's the most I can do for you." And Arthur took off on his broomstick into the air with a nod. 

Victoria went inside the quaint cottage to find a vase to put the flowers in. It was strange. The duke was the kind of person who'd go out of his way to do most things first-hand and face-to-face. Her brow furrowed as she poured water in the vase for the flowers. There were two other arrangements set on a nearby windowsill, the ones she was ordered to give yesterday and the day before. This was the third bouquet.

The garden was least frequented by the staff of the mansion. The only ones who knew what happened there that day were only the duke and the wizard so no one knew why both abruptly refused to meet the other personally.

Victoria paused as she locked the front door. If both were avoiding the other, then it would be too late. She forgot that Alfred had gone on a carriage to the palace for business at sunrise. The same palace that the Tower Arthur was probably complaining about.

Well, their private matters don't concern her. Both were grown men, the duke and the wizard can solve their tension themselves.

* * *

"You there! Stop drinking the damned Frogswurt-- No-- _Move_ , you fool!" Arthur's scolding reverberated across the walls of the magically-distorted room making the magelings flinch and drop apparatuses. The wizard could feel the veins throbbing on his forehead. Give him the apprentices who practice divination any day, just not these idiots who couldn't even differentiate Ivory Stone from Chalk Stone. _Ugh_.

And he was supposed to enjoy his three-year vacation, too! Right now, Arthur was regretting buying a cottage and not a beautiful ship to sail to a tropical islet. Alone and at peace.

The questionable sound of something sizzling snapped him back into his current nightmare. Shit, he thought as he witnessed an apprentice from the furthest row ignite his potion with Lizard Breath. Explosives weren't on the course. Students were forbidden to brew fiery potions at the palace court. 

_They were all going to burn..._

The wizard jumped off from his platform and sprinted. He dodged the boiling pots and students. The air surrounding them warmed. Arthur could imagine it was the heat of the sun as he lay on the white sand. But he wasn't going to get that if he doesn't flip the _utterly stupid_ mageling's table.

His breath had become shorter and he was still eight rows away-- too little time! The apprentice, while looking at a potion book, was haphazardly adding more and more Lizard Breath to the potion as it hissed and sparked. Arthur raised two fingers at the pot and yelled, " _Suelvert_!"

Silver sparks shot from his fingers and hit against the charred side of the pot. All of a sudden, the sizzling pot of potion sucked itself into a smaller angry pot. It shook and hopped as it went from large to small to little to as tiny as a ring. The transformed container spewed a line of fire and even at its size, the thin column of fire almost reached the ceiling.

The student was now aware of the actions, and lack thereof, he had caused. The poor mageling faced Arthur as pale as his maker's bosom and squeaked under the heavy green glare. No one dared to move nor utter a word as Arthur Kirkland strode his way to the young wizard. 

" _You fool_! You could have burnt this place and everyone else to the ground. I don't even want to know what was running in your mind during an examination that needed your absolute attention." Arthur hissed, angry and tired. He was spent. Arthur adored children but could barely do a good job watching them. The wizard took a deep breath. "Clean your table. You are going to Miss Elizabeta." 

He watched with resigned irritation (mostly frightened by the possibility of arson under his watch), weariness, and a little bit of pity at the student he scolded. Arthur had been there; it was part of the natural paths of being a competent wizard.

The wizard turned to walk back to his pedestal to oversee the others once again. Hushed murmurs and whispers slowly replaced the silence that had overtaken the room. Everyone went back to their respective pots and tables and continued their brewing and mixing and mutterings of magic.

He shut his eyes and leaned back on the high chair. A headache was beginning to throb at the back of his head. Arthur wants to go home and relax on the chair by the window overlooking his garden with his bouquet from Alfred beside him. Smelling the sweet scent of lilacs and daffodils and enjoying the summer breeze was what he should be doing right now.

_Daffodils and Lilacs..._ Arthur shook his head as if to shake away that line of thought. After all, if Alfred didn't know the names of most flowers, then he wouldn't know their meanings.

Arthur looked up to examine the fledgling wizards upfront only to see a troubled-looking girl staring at her cauldron. The student suddenly yelped in surprise as her pot grumbled and rumbled on the table, rolling off the glass bottles from the table to the floor. 

Their wizard guardian, dreading the rest of the day, absently flicked his wrist in a silent command ' _Sedpus_ ' and caught the falling glass from shattering. Arthur groaned, it was only the first hour out of five.

Maybe he should visit the fae living in the palace gardens. They always cheered him up. The Magic Tower was quite close to the gardens so walking would take little time... Well, at least now he had something to look forward to in the palace.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going let these two take their time to realize what needs to be realized. We're almost there, you guys! Just a little more rough shoves ≧∇≦


End file.
